Happiness seems to be a paradox…
We study, work, hustle, pray, all in pursuit of happiness. We think that happiness comes when we get that shiny thing that we seek for - be it a degree, a title, a job, a life partner, a vacation etc etc…
Then we get what we seek for, and we enjoy the happiness no doubt, but then we have some other shiny thing to chase again! Another career path, the next title, the next million, the next start up, the next dream…and on and on we go running on this wheel like hamsters…
On and on we go, chasing for this mirage of happiness, and it’s always in this next shiny thing. Reaching to the airport on time will make us happy…delivering that presentation to our client makes us happy..it seems that happiness is always in that next thing and it is temporary…
Or is it? When we chase happiness, we find it is fleeting. Happiness in an external object, be it a person, an occasion, a place, an achievement, can only be fleeting…
Why? This world is an ever changing place..nothing ever remains the same, not even for a second. People change, places change, the value of achievements change…we evolve, our tastes evolve, our ideas evolve, our dreams evolve…
But happiness is central to us, we can’t live without it, we can’t love without it, we can’t give without it…
Then what shall we do? How do we get a constant flow of happiness to fuel our lives?
The answer seems to be that we need to seek happiness, we need to find a source of happiness where it is changeless and everlasting…
We need to find it in every moment, in every place, in every occasion, in every person…
How?
When we ground ourselves, when we centre ourselves in the present, and observe ourselves, our surroundings…we find a stream of bliss…
In the present, there is no past, there is no future…
We drop our regrets of the past, we shed our anxieties of the future…
We smile when the sun shines, we smile when the rain pours…
We laugh when the birds chirp, we laugh when the owls hoot…
We gaze at the stars and wonder about the vastness of the universe…
We listen to the waves and wonder about the depth of the ocean…
The present gives us an unending stream of happiness, let us drink happily from it!
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